Laura Codruta Kovesi tops shortlist of candidates for European Chief Prosecutor position. JusMin Toader: I believe the members of the selection cttee are not aware of the abuses that Laura Codruta Kovesi has committed at the expense of the citizens, at the expense of the rule of law. Opposition supports Kovesi for Chief European Prosecutor office, asks Justice Minister to give up his efforts to block this procedure and discredit the former head of the DNA

Laura Codruta Kovesi tops the shortlist of candidates for the European Chief Prosecutor position, shortlist drawn up by a special committee. The top three candidates will be sent to the European Parliament, in the order of preferences, and the European Parliament is set to select the Chief European Prosecutor.

“Laura Codruta Kovesi tops the shortlist of candidates selected by a special selection committee for the office of European Prosecutor. Chess mate against the PSD. We are finally exporting people of extraordinary quality in the European Union! Good luck, Laura Codruta Kovesi!”, House lawmaker Iulian Bulai (USR) wrote on Facebook. He also made public the document that substantiates his statement, namely a notification – dated 4 February 2019 – sent to EP President Antonio Tajani and to Tudorel Toader in his capacity as Justice Minister of the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU.

The selection procedure for the office of Chief European Prosecutor does not depend on the candidate’s country of origin and is handled exclusively by a committee of 12 members (former members of the Court of Justice and Court of Accounts, former national members of Eurojust, members of national supreme courts, high-level prosecutors and lawyers), appointed in September 2018. The short list will end up at the Justice and Home Affairs Committee (JHA) and probably at the LIBE Committee, with the Council and European Parliament set to have the final say, by mutual agreement.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will be an independent European prosecution office, with the competence to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment the authors of crimes against the EU’s financial interests and their accomplices. Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 regarding the EPPO entered into force on 20 November 2017. In line with the said regulation’s Article 120, the EPPO will start its activity following a Commission decision, once it is established, but no sooner than 3 years from the moment the Regulation regarding the EPPO comes into force.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is expected to start its activity by the end of 2020.

Reactions

JusMin Toader: I believe the members of the selection cttee are not aware of the abuses that Laura Codruta Kovesi has committed at the expense of the citizens, at the expense of the rule of law

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has reacted to Codruta Kovesi topping the shortlist of candidates for the position of Chief European Prosecutor, stating that he will inform EU Justice Ministers about the “abuses” committed by the former head of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).

“I believe the members of the selection committee are not aware of the abuses that Laura Codruta Kovesi has committed at the expense of the citizens, at the expense of the rule of law. In France or Germany, a prosecutor could not have committed so many abuses because he would have been sacked from the judicial system. Even though we will have an informal JHA Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, in which most justice ministers of EU member states will take part, tomorrow morning I will send each justice minister the Constitutional Court’s decision regarding [Kovesi’s] dismissal from office,” Tudorel Toader stated for stiripesurse.ro.

Basescu: Kovesi might work at the EPPO with prosecutors who would tell her “it won’t do with lying witnesses”

Referring to the fact that Laura Codruta Kovesi is on the shortlist of candidates for the helm of the European Prosecutor’s Office, Ex-President Traian Basescu has stated that the great gain may be the fact that Laura Kovesi would work with prosecutors who would tell her that “it doesn’t work with forged statements, lying witnesses.”

“I’ve seen how in Poland the current majority protested and opposed appointing Tusk as President of the European Council. It was an extraordinarily nasty atmosphere against Poland. The politicians in Brussels didn’t understand. I say things should be left as set by the committee evaluating the one who is set to hold the office of Chief European Prosecutor. You know what would be our great gain? Mrs Kovesi might work there with prosecutors that would tell her: it won’t do with forged statements, lying witnesses, as done in your country,” Traian Basescu stated on Monday on TVR1.

Asked how she ended up being on the shortlist of candidates for the helm of the European Prosecutor’s Office, Basescu said: “She probably ran. I don’t know, because it’s the first time when this office is validated at European level. If a Romanian will be there, very good. There’s the chance a Romanian would hold an office at such an important level – let him.”

He said that those who are part of the evaluation committee know very well the past of the former head of the DNA and the abuses in our country.

“I would let things as they are. Don’t think that in Brussels those who are selecting the future prosecutor don’t know everything about the three candidates on the shortlist. They are certainly known very well. At least from the press, from information, they are known very well. I don’t believe a letter from the Justice Minister is liable to interfere with the objective. Tudorel should deal with something else instead of sending letters, because it would look bad for Romania. It would be better for him to deal with the fact that we have had hundreds of unconstitutional articles in the Criminal Code for almost 4 years now,” Basescu concluded.

USR supports Kovesi’s bid for European Chief Prosecutor position

The Save Romania Union (USR) informs that it will send MEPs and European Parliament groups a letter of support for Laura Codruta Kovesi’s candidacy for the office of European Chief Prosecutor.

“Laura Codruta Kovesi topping the shortlist of three candidates for the office of European Chief Prosecutor, which will be put to the vote within the European Parliament, is new proof that its dismissal from the helm of the DNA was a political command from felons, lacking any judicial basis. Laura Codruta Kovesi was the most efficient Chief Prosecutor of the DNA, judging by the results of the institution and the awards received in the last five years. The DNA has become a role model institution in the fight against corruption not only in Romania but also throughout Europe. The public’s confidence in the DNA grew proportionally with the results and dropped following the dismissal of Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi,” USR points out in a press release.

The Save Romania Union considers that Justice Minister Tudorel Toader and the PSD-ALDE coalition have forced the dismissal of Laura Codruta Kovesi, without the CSM’s endorsement, based on a report scraped together from press headlines, lacking any judicial consistency. In fact, Laura Codruta Kovesi has lodged with the European Court of Human Rights a complaint against her dismissal, and the stake of the trial is very important in that no other prosecutor would be subjected to such abuse in the future.

The Save Romania Union is asking the Romanian Government to prove the patriotism that it claims and support a Romanian for such an important European-level position, the press release shows.

“At the EP plenary meeting, I will vote in favour of Laura Codruta Kovesi for the position of European prosecutor! If PSD and ALDE stand in the way of this appointment, that would only confirm the criminal nature of their regime,” MEP Cristian Preda also announced.

Orban: PNL supports Kovesi for Chief European Prosecutor office; Tudorel Toader puts himself in “ridiculous” position

The National Liberal Party (PNL) supports Laura Codruta Kovesi for the office of Chief European Prosecutor, Liberal leader Ludovic Orban announces, asking Justice Minister Tudorel Toader to give up his efforts to block the procedures and discredit the former head of the DNA, and to understand that the campaign he has triggered is injurious to Romania, stating that the Justice Minister places himself in a “ridiculous” position.

“The National Liberal Party will support Laura Codruta Kovesi – the Romanian representative who tops the shortlist – being confirmed for this particularly important and prestigious position within the European Union. In this sense, PNL representatives will actively work within the European Parliament and within the group of the European People’s Party – the strongest party at European level – in order to obtain a favourable vote on the candidacy of the former Prosecutor General and Chief Prosecutor of the DNA, a vote that will most likely take place in March,” Orban points out.

Likewise, he asks Justice Minister Tudorel Toader “to give up his efforts to block this procedure and discredit the former head of the DNA, and to understand the fact that this campaign he has triggered is injurious to Romania.”

“It’s clear that the patriotism claimed by Tudorel Toader and the PSD-ALDE coalition is nothing but cardboard rhetoric, devoid of content. The position that the Justice Minister has taken is ridiculous, considering that the selection panel consists of 12 specialists from European Union member states, who know very well how the process of replacing the former head of the DNA was staged by Liviu Dragnea and his camarilla,” Orban points out.

In his opinion, if Tudorel Toader insists on being hostile to the appointment of Romania’s candidate as Chief European Prosecutor and the candidate is nevertheless appointed in office, the Justice Minister would be forced to urgently tender his resignation because he will have proved he irredeemably compromised himself before the whole European Union.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
Choosing this option will immediately limit the number of advertising
partners who will serve you with relevant adverts following your
browsing patterns, although you may still see some advertising that has
been tailored to you.
However, if you wish to disable cookies on Nine O'Clock, including
advertising cookies, you will need to take further steps. Please follow
the instructions in our cookie policy.

Note: these settings will only apply to the browser and device you are
currently using.

disable

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.